Zerihun Woldu

Dung Seed Bank of Livestock: a Role of Maintaining Grassland Biodiversity Zerihun Woldu

Dung seed banks are reserves of viable seeds present in the dung. The seed bank is an indicator of past and present plant populations. Dung seed bank play an important role in ecology and primary productivity of natural grassland particularly where the vegetation influenced by animal species because enormous numbers of viable seeds can be found in the dung. Plant seed dispersal by animals is a central process for plant community dynamics and regeneration of species. If large number of seeds can survive digestion in the gut, they may subsequently be disseminated to distant areas. Thus grazing animals can be used to introduce desirable species in to areas undesirable for sowing by conventional method. The seed of many grassland species consumed by grazing ruminants can survive the digestive process in the gut and have been observed as seedling in the dung (Janzen 1984). The species composition and productivity of the pasture of the common grazing lands are highly influenced by the species of the livestock, the intensity of grazing, climatic and edaphic factors (Zerihun, 1986).